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Development of DNA vaccines to induce immunity against intracellular tumour antigens

Development of DNA vaccines to induce immunity against intracellular tumour antigens
Development of DNA vaccines to induce immunity against intracellular tumour antigens

We previously reported that the non-toxic Fragment C (FrC) region of tetanus toxin is a potent immunoenhancer.  A DNA vaccine encoding a tumour protein linked to FrC induced protective immunity in vaccinated mice, in contrast to a similar vaccine lacking the FrC sequence. 

For intracellular tumour antigens, induction of CD8+ T cells is particular desirable.  To activate CD8+ cell responses two changes were made to our vaccine design; first the N-terminal domain of FrC was removed to delete potentially competitive epitopes.  Second, epitope presentation was enhanced by re-positioning minimal tumour peptides to the C-terminus of the remaining FrC sequence.  This novel vaccine (p.DOM-peptide) proved an effective means to prime peptide-specific CTLs.  To determine whether this design was applicable to a tumour antigen and to delineate the reasons for its success, we used a minimal H-2Ld-binding peptide, AH1, derived from the endogenous retroviral gene product, gp70, and expressed by the murine colon carcinoma, CT26. Vaccination with this second-generation design (p.DOM-AH1) activated functional AH1-specific CTLs capable of specifically lysing a panel of cells lines expressing the AH1 epitope.  Importantly this vaccine also afforded protective immunity against CT26 tumour challenge in mice.  Comparison with other AH10-containing DNA vaccines confirmed that both epitope competition and efficient tumour-peptide processing contribute to the efficacy of the p.DOM-AH1 vaccine.

Finally, we have focused on the tumour-associated transcription factor, WT1, to investigate whether DNA vaccination can induce immunity against this clinically relevant auto-antigen.  Encouragingly, administration of a p.DOM-peptide vaccine encoding a minimal WT1-derived HLA-A2-binding epitope induced strong responses in humanised transgenic mice following injection by the DNA/EP prime/boost vaccination schedule.

University of Southampton
Buchan, Sarah
87e38403-54ed-4d88-802c-9a1107b7d304
Buchan, Sarah
87e38403-54ed-4d88-802c-9a1107b7d304

Buchan, Sarah (2005) Development of DNA vaccines to induce immunity against intracellular tumour antigens. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.

Record type: Thesis (Doctoral)

Abstract

We previously reported that the non-toxic Fragment C (FrC) region of tetanus toxin is a potent immunoenhancer.  A DNA vaccine encoding a tumour protein linked to FrC induced protective immunity in vaccinated mice, in contrast to a similar vaccine lacking the FrC sequence. 

For intracellular tumour antigens, induction of CD8+ T cells is particular desirable.  To activate CD8+ cell responses two changes were made to our vaccine design; first the N-terminal domain of FrC was removed to delete potentially competitive epitopes.  Second, epitope presentation was enhanced by re-positioning minimal tumour peptides to the C-terminus of the remaining FrC sequence.  This novel vaccine (p.DOM-peptide) proved an effective means to prime peptide-specific CTLs.  To determine whether this design was applicable to a tumour antigen and to delineate the reasons for its success, we used a minimal H-2Ld-binding peptide, AH1, derived from the endogenous retroviral gene product, gp70, and expressed by the murine colon carcinoma, CT26. Vaccination with this second-generation design (p.DOM-AH1) activated functional AH1-specific CTLs capable of specifically lysing a panel of cells lines expressing the AH1 epitope.  Importantly this vaccine also afforded protective immunity against CT26 tumour challenge in mice.  Comparison with other AH10-containing DNA vaccines confirmed that both epitope competition and efficient tumour-peptide processing contribute to the efficacy of the p.DOM-AH1 vaccine.

Finally, we have focused on the tumour-associated transcription factor, WT1, to investigate whether DNA vaccination can induce immunity against this clinically relevant auto-antigen.  Encouragingly, administration of a p.DOM-peptide vaccine encoding a minimal WT1-derived HLA-A2-binding epitope induced strong responses in humanised transgenic mice following injection by the DNA/EP prime/boost vaccination schedule.

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More information

Published date: 2005

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 465621
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/465621
PURE UUID: 47ea8376-cc30-463a-99e2-08a26861d9a0

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Date deposited: 05 Jul 2022 02:06
Last modified: 23 Jul 2022 02:16

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Contributors

Author: Sarah Buchan

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